


Courting

by Sachiela



Series: Voltron Secret Santa Make-up Gifts [11]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cultural Differences, First Meetings, Getting Together, Human!Lance, M/M, Voltron Secret Santa 2018, mermaid!Keith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-03-02 06:41:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18805780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sachiela/pseuds/Sachiela
Summary: When Keith first sees a human in his cave, he flees. Later, when he realizes the human won't give up on finding him, they strike an unlikely friendship that develops into more.





	Courting

**Author's Note:**

> For blue-bi-lion-boy on Tumblr.
> 
> You requested "Maybe a 50's theme? Or a fantasy theme." I wasn't able to come up with anything for 50s, I'm sorry, but I thought fantasy theme mixed with the fact that it's Mermay wouldn't be a bad idea. I hope you enjoy!

The first time Keith sees the dark-skinned human with the pale eyes wander into his cave, he dives into the water without a second thought and swims away as fast as he can, hearing in his head the whole time that _humans were not to be trusted_.

He tries to head back there to sleep the next day, and the next, but the human is there each time, just sitting and staring out at the water, waiting. Keith darts away each time before the human can see him, but can’t help but wonder what they’re doing there every day. Surely after the first few times with no sign of Keith coming back, the human should give up, right? And Keith just wanted his home back. It sucks trying to find some alcove or outcropping to sleep in each day that was safe enough for him to sleep in so he’d actually have the necessary energy to hunt after nightfall.

Frankly, he was getting cranky for not getting a good day’s sleep and only wanted his space back.

Which is why he finds himself five days later glaring at the human from the edge of the cave, hidden behind a few rocks, debating if it would be better to scare them away or confront them. Scaring away may mean that they may come back with more humans, though, to retaliate.

Confronting it is.

He swims up carefully, staying under the surface, but the human doesn’t seem to have any weapons on him, which is promising. He pops only his head up out of the water a tail’s length away, smirking a little when the human jumps.

“You’re real! I knew I wasn’t imagining it!” the human exclaims, confusing Keith even more. This isn’t the normal behavior of any of the stories he’d been told as a guppy.

“Why do you keep coming back here every day?” he asks, which startles the human all over again.

The human’s whole face lights up. “Oh, _dios_ , you can speak English.” The human pauses, seems to realize something, and then points an accusing finger at him. “Wait, you knew I’ve been coming here this whole time? Why are you just now showing yourself?”

“Because humans have killed my kind for centuries. Why would I want to show myself to someone who might kill me?” Keith asks in return, raising one eyebrow. “You still have not answered my first question.”

The human deflates at that, frowning. Had they not realized what humans have done to merfolk? They had seemed startled at his very existence, so perhaps the stories were not as well spread among their kind? “So...it may not mean much to you, but I promise I’m not here to hurt you or anything. I had thought I’d dreamed the whole thing up or something, so I’ve kept coming back to see if you were real. There’s the stories we’re told as kids, of course, but no one believes they’re real once we get older.”

Ah, legends. That explains a bit more of the human’s behavior. “What will you do now that you know?” Would they tell other humans? Would Keith have to work to find someplace new entirely to stay?

“I hadn’t actually thought that far ahead? I won’t tell anyone that you’re here of course, but...would it be okay for me to come visit still? I think we could be good friends.”

Keith frowns. “I do not even know your name?”

“Oh, crap. My bad. I’m Lance.”

“Keith,” he responds, not sure why he’s even considering the notion of being friends with a human. But there’s something about this one that makes him feel safe, moreso than any one of his own kind ever has since he’d reached adulthood.

*~*~*~*

The two of them eventually get a system going that works for them to see each other most days. Lance learns quickly that Keith is _very_ grouchy if not allowed enough time to sleep, so he won’t come by to visit until after the sun has passed its zenith. Keith learns that Lance is a very good swimmer for not having a tail. He’s no match for Keith, but at least Keith has no worries about the tide being an issue for his new friend.

The concept of Lance being his friend is both pleasing and frustrating to him, though. In all the time they’ve spent together, days bleeding into weeks (a term he’d learned from Lance), there are times where Keith almost gets the impression that the human is trying to, well, _court_ him. And he doesn’t know if it makes it worse or not that Keith isn’t remotely bothered by the notion.

There are little trinkets that he’ll bring down to the cave to show Keith, saying things like he saw them and wanted to show Keith, or wondering if he’d ever even seen anything like these before. And then one day he gives Keith a bracelet made of multi-toned purple stones that he says matches Keith’s eyes that makes his heart pound in his chest. But then Lance never follows up the gifts with anything, leaving Keith all the more confused.

Maybe he’s just not sure that Keith is accepting the courtship? They are from different cultures, after all. So he tries reciprocating the gifts with a few of his own, managing to find the largest pearl he can in the clams he enjoys for dinner some nights and giving that to Lance. And while the human accepts the gift with the same enthusiasm as he does everything...nothing.

Unsure of what else to do, he stops Lance from leaving one evening, a bit before the sun begins to set. He takes a deep breath and then forces the question out, knowing he’s never going to get an answer unless he asks outright. “What do humans do to let another know they are interested in courting them?”

Lance looks confused for a moment, then blushes lightly. “Oh, umm, well, there’s usually some flirting? But that’s different for everyone. Some do gifts. And then there’s, well, kissing, I suppose.”

The last one seems to make Lance’s blush even darker, so maybe that’s what he responds best to for courting? “Is kissing something you can show me?”

“I...umm…” Lance turns the deepest red Keith has ever seen and he fears for a moment that the human is ill. “Yeah, I guess I can. Just...close your eyes?”

Curious, Keith does as asked. A moment later, he jumps slightly when he feels a hand in his hair, but then something is pressing to his lips and, oh, that sends tingles all down his spine. He opens his eyes as he feels Lance moving away, realizing that it must have been Lance’s lips pressing to his own.

Lance clears his throat. “Yeah, that’s a kiss.”

Nodding in understanding, Keith gives Lance a moment to collect himself and then slides into his space once more. He sees the human’s blue eyes widen as he closes his own, pressing his lips to Lance’s. It doesn’t feel as easy as when Lance did it, but he hopes it’s enough. He pulls away after a moment and waits.

“Keith, what…? You…?” Lance trails off and Keith nods, hoping Lance understands this time. The smile that spreads across the human’s face is nearly blinding, but the hug Keith’s pulled into is even more surprising yet most welcome. “I’m so glad I wasn’t imagining this either.”


End file.
